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‘My Only Girl, My Best Friend’: 9-Year-Old Girl Found Stabbed To Death In Apartment
"I had to go to work that night. And I just came home and found my baby,” Alazia Johnson’s mother, Tegina Brown, said of the tragic discovery of finding her daughter dead.
A 9-year-old Georgia girl was stabbed to death in her apartment by an intruder last week, leaving her mother distraught.
Alazia “Ally” Johnson was was found fatally knifed Tuesday at her mother’s apartment in Tifton, Georgia. Authorities arrested Semaj Antonio Moss, 18, over the weekend. Moss, of Valdosta, Georgia, was taken into custody in Lowndes County.
Tifton Police were dispatched to the family’s residence around 7:20 a.m. Inside, they found the 9-year-old girl; she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Marko Jones, an assistant special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, described Alazia’s murder as a “tragic and horrific crime.”
“[It] has shaken the community to its core,” Jones told Atlanta television station WSB-TV. “It was apparent Ally became everyone’s daughter because of the outpouring of love we received from the community.”
Tegina Brown, the girl’s mother, told local media she had been working the night of her daughter’s death.
"I have to work to support my kids," Brown told WALB. "I had to go to work that night. And I just came home and found my baby."
Prior to Moss’ arrest, the single mother offered a desperate plea to catch her daughter’s killer.
“I just want them to find whoever did this,” Brown added. “I want them to pay for this. She was my baby. My only girl, my best friend. We talked about everything together. She knew everything.”
A candlelit vigil was since held for Alazia.
“This mom needs uplifting, she needs a shoulder, she needs support, she needs love,” Latoya Jackson told WALB. “She doesn’t have a lot of family here. So, as a community, and being a mom, as well as having a daughter, or you being a woman, that’s enough to make you hold a sign, it’s enough to make you put your pride to the side and speak on justice for his baby, and that’s what drove me to come out here.”
Alazia Johnson has been remembered as a “fun” and energetic 9-year-old who loved to play tag and make TikTok videos.
“Her laugh was so fun,” Harmanii Dixon, Alazia’s best friend, told WALB.
“She was funny when she was doing TikToks.”
Authorities have released little information in the wake of the child’s slaying. A possible motive hasn’t yet been disclosed and an autopsy is pending.
Moss was charged with malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. He is being held without bond on a juvenile cellblock at a Tift County detention center, online jail records show.
Anyone with additional information related to Johnson’s slaying are urged to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tip line at 1-800-597-8477 or the Tifton Police Department at 229-382-3132.
